What do you do to celebrate the 4th?

What do you do to celebrate our nation's independence day? On July 4, 1776, our forefathers of our country, including, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, John Hancock, and Benjamin Franklin gathered together in the Philadelphia meeting room and with fear for their lives signed the Declaration of Independence. At one point just before Benjamin Franklin signed the document he made one of his many famous statements. "Gentlemen, we MUST hang together for assuredly we will all hang separately!" This meaning that if we don't win our independence we will all hang for treason.

As historians, many hold these people up on a pedestal as great men who were wise beyond their years, almost like they were gods. I, too, think they were great, brave people, willing to hang for what they stood for and willing to do what it takes to make things better for others. I often wonder if they were thinking, "what will the history books say about me?" No, I don't think they were. I also wonder how they got to that day. What made them come and sign, basically, their death sentence if we didn't win the war.

Today, our politicians and government leaders seem to have many things in common. It is hard to find someone who isn't egocentric, a bit narcissistic, and thinking of their next political step. They also are looking for historic "prosperity". Or in other words, "what will the history books say about me?". What happened to those people who lead because they are good? What happened to those who make good decisions without thinking what will people 100 years from now think of me?

Are our leaders now trying to live up to the standards set by our forefathers? Is anyone able to live up to them? Will we have great leaders like them again? Will it take another all out war? It seems that our other great presidents were also in office during time of war. The Civil War with Lincoln, WWI with Truman, WWII with Roosevelt and Wilson. Eisenhower and Kennedy. Reagan with the Cold War ending.

I have been thinking recently of our presidential elections coming next year. Our candidates have already been campaigning and for most, by the election, they will have been campaigning for 20-22 months! Great Britain just had their election and now have a new Prime Minister. Tony Blair announced a few months ago that he would be calling a new election and would not be running, they have campaigned and had the election all in a few months time. It is over. We draw ours out. By the time the election comes around I feel browbeaten by the candidates. They have invaded every orifice of my being. They are in my mailbox. They are on my TV. They are in my newspapers, magazines, and radio. They are on street signs and billboards. They are everywhere. By election day, I just want it over with. And by that time we know everything about them and some things we didn't want to know. I am not sure this is how our forefathers had imagined it. Maybe some did. George Washington was elected without a political party, but by the time he left office 8 years later he warned us of political parties. Maybe he did know. Maybe we should take some lessons from out "greats".

Oh, we are spending our Independence Day as a family. We will be participating in our neighborhood parade with bikes and floats. Kenneth is driving our big 1959 Farmall 460 tractor with a trailer behind it filled with straw bales and kids waving the flag of our country (the red white and blue). Then we will be participating in the events at our neighborhood pool. Then ending the day with my parents, cooking out, eating watermelon, and roasting s'mores!